TROY – A jury Tuesday found a city man guilty of assault for hitting a woman in the head with a snow shovel after he was kicked out of Natures Pub.

Joseph Bensalah was found guilty Tuesday afternoon of misdemeanor third-degree assault after a trial that began last week before Rensselaer County Judge Debra Young.

Bensalah, who was originally charged with felony first-degree assault for the Feb. 24, 2013, incident at the South Troy bar, will be sentenced to a year in county Jail, court officials said.

Prosecutors said that Bensalah became unruly with other bar patrons and was asked to leave. Outside the door he allegedly picked up the plastic shovel and began hitting the door and then allegedly hit the woman bartender in the face when she came outside.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Jarrod Sandford and Bensalah was represented by attorney Dennis Schlenker. Schlenker told jurors there was a paucity of hard forensic evidence collected at the scene that tied his client to the act.